When the 2025 Oscar nominations were announced bright and early Jan. 23, one of the most promising headlines bursting through the fog of the morning was that Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays the titular character in awards season heavyweight “Emilia Pérez,” was the first openly trans person to be nominated for an acting role. It was a reason to celebrate, a win for the trans community and their allies after a week that began with Donald Trump’s inauguration, where he was keen to mention that he’d be rolling back protections for trans people nationwide. But as happy people were for Gascón, there was also a good deal of head-scratching that followed.
Since its debut at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, “Emilia Pérez” has divided audiences and critics. Some view the flashy musical thriller about a cartel leader who decides to transition both to escape her enemies and become her true self as an audacious work of provocative cinema. Others have decried its depiction of transness as regressive, falling into old, incorrect tropes about trans people trying to deceive others and spectacle-izing the act of transitioning. Such rampant discourse has turned “Emilia Pérez” into the most talked about film of this year’s awards season, a sensation that translated to a whopping 13 Oscar nominations.
